


Now We Stand Alone

by edema_ruh



Series: Delivered from the Blast [3]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Anxiety Attacks, Hostage Situations, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Mind Reader Enjolras, Minor Character Death, Panic Attacks, Superheroes, Superpowers, Threats, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-30 10:45:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6420706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edema_ruh/pseuds/edema_ruh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Enjolras' rescue mission goes awry and the Amis learn more about the new threat they're facing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Now We Stand Alone

Enjolras hadn't left his room since the incident with the superhuman, focusing all his strength on finding his friends and the man who kidnapped them.  

He had no idea what this man wanted, what he sounded like or even his name. Back at the Musain, he could barely even hear his thoughts. Enjolras decided to focus on Cosette, or on Grantaire, to find some clue of where they may be being kept at. 

But he couldn’t forget the way Grantaire's thoughts sounded when Enjolras left the house that night. 

Enjolras did his best not to listen to his friend's thoughts unless it was primordially necessary. And since he'd been having these abilities for less than a week, it was still very hard to properly control his powers and ignore every mind basically screaming their thoughts at him. If Enjolras didn’t keep himself focused at all times, he could end up listening to what he shouldn’t, or hurting innocent people, like he had done with Grantaire. 

And if he was being honest, Grantaire's mind was the hardest one _not to read_. The man was as loud in thought as he was in person, scattered thoughts basically yelling at Enjolras' brain, making it impossible to ignore them. Enjolras didn’t say anything, but as soon as the cynic had first woken up after the accident, a flood of thoughts invaded Enjolras' mind, so fast that he almost lost control of himself. Confusion, memories, despair, grief, loss, and a pain that Enjolras had only felt when his grandfather died years ago. And so much love and adoration that Enjolras would have never expected from anyone, specially from Grantaire. 

This only increased his guilt from hurting the man during the argument, and for letting him be captured by a criminal superhuman. They didn’t know if Grantaire had abilities yet, what if he was...? 

No, Grantaire must have abilities. According to Joly, when he arrived at the house, Grantaire had two broken ribs, a terrible concussion and a thousand cuts all over his body. And on the next day he was almost fully healed. 

Maybe his superpower was regeneration, or fast healing. Enjolras couldn’t know for sure and neither did Grantaire. 

All that Enjolras knew for sure was that his friends were in danger and he needed to find them. 

A knock on the door disrupted his already scarce concentration, and he scoffed impatiently before telling whoever it was to come in. He didn’t need his powers to know it was Combeferre. 

"Have you slept?" Combeferre asked, after Enjolras didn’t say anything upon his arrival. 

"No", Enjolras replied, still looking out the window to the city. 

"Enjolras, it's been almost a day. If you want to find them you need to rest". 

"This is my fault, Combeferre, I will not let you or anyone stop me from finding that man and correcting my mistakes". 

"What do you plan to do? Kill him?" Combeferre sat on the bed. 

"If that's what it takes". 

"We need to talk about this, Enjolras. You're diverging from your ideals and talking about stuff you would have never considered before. We always knew that power can corrupt, but we also have always agreed that we wouldn’t let it corrupt us if we came to it. Our goal is to help the people, not to stablish ourselves as their rulers and decide what is best for them without discussion". 

"This is still about the prison, then", Enjolras commented absentmindedly. 

"Yes, it is", Combeferre sighed. "We don’t have structure or money to do such a thing. We don’t know how to do so and we don’t even have a location for it. We may have developed these powers, but we still have our lives! What about your job in the office, or mine and Joly's at the hospital? And besides that, we have no authority to decide who goes to jail and who doesn’t". 

"And who has this authority? The government? They won't even know what they're dealing with. _We_ don’t even know what we're dealing with. But this is the best shot we have to keep innocent people out of harm's way, specially if the harm is coming from powered people like us". 

"And what do you plan on doing, then?" Combeferre got to his feet, impatient. "Locking anyone who is a menace up and leaving them in a prison cell to rot? What about people who are good but have no control over their powers? What shall we do then?" 

"We train them", Enjolras replied, ignoring Combeferre's scoff. 

"So your plan is to become Professor Xavier", his friend mocked. 

"My plan, Combeferre, is to help those who need help and lock away those who want to do bad things", Enjolras snarled. "It's not that hard to understand, really". 

When Combeferre didn’t answer, Enjolras turned around. He found his friend staring at him with concern on his eyes. 

"I don’t recognize you, Enjolras", Combeferre whispered. 

"No, you're just not seeing it right!", Enjolras exploded, finally getting up. "I used to think I knew these people. I used to think I knew exactly what the people wanted, how the people thought, how much they wanted things to change! I used to think they were like us!" Enjolras held Combeferre's shoulders, looking at his friend, eager for him to understand. "But now I can truly listen to them and now I know the truth. Now I know where their true interests lie. And what hurts me more about all this is that Grantaire was right all along", Enjolras let go of Combeferre's shoulders, head low and sat on the bed again. "He was right from the beginning. They were never going to rise. They were never going to help us change things, and I would end up getting us all killed. Because that's what I do, isn't it?", Enjolras looked up at Combeferre, whose expression had softened. "It's because of me three of our friends were kidnapped, it was because of me we were hit by the explosion and got these powers and if it was up to me, I would have led us into something that would have costed us our lives". Combeferre sat down on the bed beside Enjolras, placing a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "You all always relied so much on me when you shouldn’t. But now I know better, I've listened to how things really work, and now I know what I'm doing. And the only way is to do things our way. The government won't help us with this, Ferre, they will do exactly what Grantaire said they would, they will put us away in cages and experiment on us like animals. We can't trust them, not with this. And if we have any hope of keeping the people from our city safe, the only way is to do this", Enjolras gestured wildly. "This prison, this safe house, for us to contain bad people and protect good people". 

Combeferre was looking at Enjolras with sad eyes. 

"Enjolras", he started. "I've known you since we were kids. I think I know you better than I know my own self. And I also know how much you always insist on carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders, how you feel like you're responsible for not stopping all the evil in the planet. Please, listen my friend. Had us died on the revolution, you wouldn’t be to blame. No one here is following you blindly, Enjolras, every single one of us know what we're doing and why we're here. We are here for you, yes, but we are here for the cause. The cause is our main goal. We relied on you because you are reliable, and we'll be with you no matter what. Read my mind and see if I am lying", Combeferre said, taking Enjolras' hands in his and placing them on his temples. "But I've always felt like it was my duty to guide your brain whenever your heart took over your judgment. And I believe this prison is not the right way. How do you even plan on doing this?" 

"My father", Enjolras whispered, blinking rapidly as if not to let the tears pooling on his eyes fall. "You know he'd help me if I asked. And he's already given me that house we use sometimes to make banners. It's away from the city, it's discrete and there's no nosy neighbors around. We could do this, Ferre. We just need to find someone to study how these powers work, make the proper cells and find out how to do good with our abilities". 

Combeferre smiled sadly. 

"You've really put a lot of thought on this idea, haven't you?" 

Enjolras nodded, not looking Combeferre in the eyes. Suddenly, he felt exhausted. 

"Then I will be by your side. This won't be easy, but I will be here for you", Combeferre sighed. "But you won't be able to help anyone unless you eat and rest. You'll need to be at your top capacity if we're going to rescue our friends". 

They both got up from Enjolras' bed, heading to the kitchen, and had a quick dinner with Courfeyrac and Jehan. The other Amis had stayed back at Joly's place, trying to comfort Bossuet and Musichetta, who were both worried out of their minds.  

Before Enjolras went to bed – he wouldn’t _really_ sleep, but it would be better if his friends thought he would -, Combeferre knocked on his door again. 

"Yes?", Enjolras asked from where he was lying on the bed. 

Combeferre's head appeared between the door and the doorframe, showing this would be a quick conversation. 

"Enj?", he asked. 

"Yeah, Ferre?" 

"I know how you must be feeling disappointed about what ever it is that you heard when you read those people's minds but... Grantaire wasn't right. Not about this". 

Enjolras frowned, but before he could open his mouth to speak, Combeferre continued. 

"What we did was never about making the people rise and join us", Combeferre said. "It was about making them see there's another way, a better way. It was about guiding them. I hope you can understand that. Anyway, have a good night", he said, closing the door behind him and leaving Enjolras alone in his room with his and a thousand other thoughts that fluttered across the city night. 

- 

Upon waking up, Grantaire felt pain. 

It was mostly on the back of his head, from where it had connected harshly with the wall and knocked him out, but as consciousness returned to him he realized his shoulders were sore from being kept in the same position in a long time. 

It took him some time to open his eyes, and when he did, it took even more time for his vision to focus. He realized he was on a place that looked somewhat like a basement, it was dark and dusty and the air smelled like mold. His hands were tied tightly behind his back and there was a dirty rag serving as a gag on his mouth. He tried to move his head to the side, only to see an unconscious Joly sitting a few feet beside him and a struggling Cosette trying to break herself free. 

Grantaire tried to call her attention by grunting, which worked, but it also caught the attention of whoever the hell that was in the basement with them. Large steps resonated across the room as the telekinetic man who had kidnapped them walked over to Grantaire. He squatted down in front of Grantaire, smiling menacingly, and slapped his face lightly. 

"Glad you're awake", he whispered with a rough voice. 

"Fuck you", Grantaire tried to say, but the gag muffled his words. 

"Well, now only this little guy here needs to wake up", the man said, standing up. "He doesn’t look too tough though. I doubt he even has powers", he poked Joly's face with the front of his shoe, seeing if he would wake up. He didn’t. 

"Leave him alone", Cosette barked. The man laughed and walked over to her. 

"What about you, huh?" He teased, pulling the gag out of her mouth and running his fingers through her blonde hair. "What is your super power?" 

"Why do you care, jackass?" She spat on his face. He cleaned the saliva with the back of his hand, before smiling and slapping her face with force. Grantaire cried out. 

"Hey!" He yelled. "Don't touch her!" 

The man took Cosette's face with one hand, holding both her cheeks with force. 

"Spit on me again and I'll cut off your tongue, you bitch". 

He let go of Cosette and walked over to Grantaire, taking his gag off with force. 

"The same goes for you", he warned. "Now tell me what powers you have". 

"Why the hell are you doing this, man? Just let us go", Grantaire said. 

The man rolled his eyes before kicking Grantaire on the ribs. The cynic groaned and let his head fall back against the wall. 

At this, Joly regained consciousness, confused eyes looking around and blinking sluggishly. Upon realizing his hands were tied and there was a gag on his mouth, his breath caught in his throat. He was fumbling madly with his bindings, trying to get free, but when he realized he couldn’t he started to hyperventilate, desperate to set himself free. 

"Hey, Joly, calm down", Grantaire spoke, hoping a familiar voice would calm his friend. "It's ok, it's Grantaire, I'm right here ok?" 

Joly was still trying to get free, breathing increasing speed and eyes filled with tears, getting more and more nervous. 

"Joly, you need to slow down", Grantaire instructed, but a fist connected with his jaw and he bit his tongue.  

"If you don’t tell me what the fuck your powers are this whiny bitch dies", the kidnapped threatened, a knife flying from his pocket and floating just above Joly's throat. 

"I don’t have any powers!" Grantaire screamed. "I don’t have any powers, just leave him alone!" 

"I don’t believe you", the man smiled, knife digging deeper into Joly's skin and starting to draw blood. 

Suddenly the telekinetic let out a whimper and Grantaire looked at him only to see his eyes wide, mouth ajar in surprise. A clattering sound indicated that the knife had fallen to the floor, useless, and, just like the weapon, the kidnapper also fell down, face first on the floor. Behind him was Cosette, standing up with a scowl on her face, wrists and ankles free of bonding. Her eyes were glowing red and there was smoke coming out of it, but they slowly returned to their natural blue color. 

"That's cool as shit", Grantaire commented as Cosette used her laser vision to free a still panicking Joly of his bindings. She pulled the gag away from his mouth and caressed his hair, all while softly muttering "it's ok, don't worry, it's ok now". As soon as Joly's breathing had eased up enough, she freed Grantaire, helping him up to his feet. 

"Do you know where we are?" Cosette asked, looking around the room for any windows, but there were none. There was only one door, but they couldn’t know if there were more people on the house. 

"No, I was completely knocked out", Grantaire said. "Hey Joly, you okay?" He asked his friend as he helped him up. 

"I-I'll be f-fine", he answered, not looking Grantaire in the eye. 

"We need to get out of here", Cosette muttered. "But I don’t know how many people are out there. If there's more than five I'm not sure I'll be able to take them all out". 

"Can't you blow a hole on the wall with your laser vision for us to go through?" Grantaire suggested. 

"Well, I haven't had these powers for long but I've never tried anything like this", Cosette shrugged, sounding excited. 

"There's a first time for anything", Grantaire smiled. Cosette turned around and started to laser the wall, hands tightened into fists as she gave the task all her might. The concrete was starting to melt, and it would be only a matter of minutes until there was a hole wide enough for them to go through. 

"I wish I just knew what powers I have already", Grantaire commented. 

"Why was this g-guy so interested on what powers we have anyway?", Joly asked. 

"Oh love", a female voice coming from behind them said. "He was just asking for a friend". 

Before Grantaire could turn around to see who had spoken, there was a hand gripping his shoulder, and suddenly all the pain in the world took over his body. 

- 

"I found them!", Enjolras barged into the room, screaming. "I found them!" 

"Where are they?" Bossuet asked, getting up from his chair in a millisecond. 

"I... I don’t know", Enjolras said, and everyone frowned at him. 

"Then...? How did you find them?" Courfeyrac said. 

"I found Grantaire's mind, so I have a, an image, a location", Enjolras explained. "Jehan, you can teleport right?" 

"Yes", Jehan said, frowning. "But only to places I know, or places I can see". 

"Yes!", Enjolras exclaimed. "If I project the image I saw on your head, do you think you can teleport there?" 

Jehan looked excited at this, standing up. 

"Yeah, I think I can do that! I mean, I can try". 

"Wait, wait", Courfeyrac said. "But what did you see, Enjolras? How many people were there? What was happening?" 

"There... there was a woman, and two men that I could- I mean, that Grantaire could see", Enjolras explained. "But we don’t need to fight them off just yet, we can just teleport, take them and teleport back here". 

Combeferre frowned. 

"How many people can you teleport with you, Jehan?" 

"So far, only one", Jehan said, sighing. "I've tried to take two, but it's too difficult. I can't do it yet". 

Courfeyrac clicked his tongue. 

"This sounds too dangerous". 

"Well, I'm in", Bossuet said. "I'm fast, I can bring them all to Jehan very quickly. But how fast can you teleport, Jehan?" 

Jehan disappeared with a puff, reappearing on the opposite side of the room in the blink of an eye, and then teleporting himself back to where he was previously standing. 

"That looks fast enough", Combeferre commented. 

"I think you should take me, too", Enjolras said. "So I can protect them while you're teleporting". 

"But I can only take one person, Enjolras", Jehan frowned. 

"I know. You teleport Bossuet, and when you come back with one of our friends, you take me with you", Enjolras suggested. 

"Doesn’t that sound risky...?" Courfeyrac asked, nervous. 

"It will work", Enjolras said. "I can keep them from attacking our friends while you take them to safety. I'll be basically covering you". 

"Alright", Jehan replied, shrugging. "That sounds like a plan to me". 

"Ok, are you ready to see the projection in your mind?" Enjolras asked, as Bossuet held hands with Jehan. Musichetta placed a quick kiss to the bald man's lips, whispering "bring him home" on his ear. 

"I'm ready", Jehan said. 

"Alright. I'll project in three, two, one..." 

As soon as Jehan saw the dusty basement on his head, he and Bossuet were gone with a puff. 

- 

"Look, lady, I've already told you we don’t have any powers", Grantaire told the woman in front of him, fighting against the new rope around his wrists. She kicked his chest, making his body fall back harshly against the floor. 

"Lie to me again and I'll tear your pretty friend's eyes out with my nails after I get what I want", she threatened. 

"He doesn’t have any powers, neither does Joly", Cosette spoke up, sounding bored. "Only I do". 

The woman walked up to her, pointy nails scratching her cheek. 

"Give me a good reason to believe you", she whispered. 

"Give me a good reason not to laser the hell out of your ugly face right now", Cosette replied. 

The woman grabbed Cosette by the neck, and the girl went instantly pale. Her lips went as white as the moon and her blue eyes widened, mouth open in a silent scream. 

"Can you, now?" The woman smiled, teasing. "Can you laser me?" 

Cosette's face was getting even more pale, and she was starting to look like... a corpse. 

"Stop!" Grantaire yelled. The evil woman's eyes were starting to shine a bright red and it was fuming. 

Just like Cosette's eyes had. 

Then everything happened at once. There was a puffing sound and suddenly Jehan was there, looking around in confusion and then he was gone just a second later, as fast as he had appeared. Grantaire looked around and noticed Joly wasn’t there anymore. But Bossuet was. 

Bossuet untied Grantaire and kicked the woman away from Cosette in precisely 1.2 seconds, time enough for Jehan to reappear again with Enjolras. Bossuet practically threw Cosette's unconscious form into Jehan's arms in the blink of an eye, and the pair disappeared just as the woman's two henchmen came into action. Grantaire kicked one of them on the crotch as Bossuet sucker punched the other several times with his amazing speed. Jehan reappeared with another puff and grabbed Grantaire's wrist, and the last thing Grantaire saw before being teleported away from the house was the woman grabbing Enjolras' ankle. 

Then Grantaire was on Joly's house, vertigo from the sudden trip making him dizzy, and he only had enough time to scream "Jehan, wait!" Before Jehan was gone again. 

Two seconds later Jehan reappeared with Bossuet, and Grantaire managed to throw himself against the small poet's body right before he teleported back to the basement. 

Grantaire and Jehan reappeared on the basement, colliding with the floor harshly. The woman was still there, smiling and holding a very still Enjolras, who was as pale as Grantaire had ever seen him. 

"Let him go!", he screamed, fury burning in his veins. 

"This is a good one", the woman said, smiling. "He's more powerful that he realizes. All those things that he could do, and he doesn’t do it because of _ethics_. Well, thankfully I came to find him. Or better, he came to me", she smiled. "Just a little bit more now, and I will show you all that I can do, _Grantaire_ ". She spat the name like venom. How did she know his name?

"Get the _fuck away from him_ ", Grantaire muttered through clenched teeth. The woman chuckled. 

"Or what?" She teased. On the floor, Enjolras eyes had rolled to the back of his head. 

Grantaire never felt so angry in his entire life. This woman – this monster – had almost killed Cosette and was about to kill the love of his life right in front of his eyes. And he wouldn’t take that. Not again. He clenched his hands into fists, and felt a rush of energy flowing through his entire body.

The building around them began to tremble, a loud rumbling sound echoing around the room. The woman frowned at him. 

"Get out of here Jehan", Grantaire muttered through clenched teeth. 

"But R-" 

" _Now!_ " He yelled, looking at Jehan. Grantaire's eyes had gone black, scleras and iris and everything. Jehan looked at him, terrified, and teleported away from the scene. 

Something had awoken inside Grantaire. He could feel vibrations from all the things around him, the walls, the street, the air, the woman, Enjolras' slow heartbeat. He could feel energy accumulating withing him, something buzzing beneath his skin. He knew in his heart he needed to let it out. 

"This is all for nothing", the woman mocked, breathing in deeply. "Just a few more seconds and I'll be able to-" 

Grantaire couldn't take it anymore. He let out an animalistic scream, outstretching both hands towards the woman, and a shockwave was emitted from them, all energy he had been keeping escaping through the palm of his hands, hitting the woman right on the chest and sending her flying away from Enjolras, into the hole Cosette had managed to open, unconscious. 

Grantaire knew he had no time to lose, the building was about to come down on them. Whatever he did – whatever that was – had disrupted the house's stability. He needed to get Enjolras out of there or they would both be buried beneath a ton of concrete. 

He picked Enjolras up bridal style and ran up the stairs, away from the basement. A few man were still lingering on the living room, unsure of what to do, and tried to chase them as he ran towards the front door. Grantaire reacted on pure instinct, allowing waves of vibration exit his body and throw the men back, making the structure of the house finally give in and fall down. Grantaire managed to throw himself and Enjolras several feet away from the falling house by using his newfound powers to impulse them both. They fell harshly against the floor just as the house collapsed entirely, dust spreading and filling the air. 

Grantaire looked at Enjolras, still unconscious and pale beside him. Holding his breath, he took the man's pulse. 

It was weak, but it was there. 

Letting out a sigh of relief, Grantaire searched around Enjolras' pockets until he found a phone. Fishing it out, he dialed Jehan's number. It wasn’t long until the poet picked up. 

"Are you ok? What the hell is going on?", Jehan basically screamed. 

"Hey, Jehan", Grantaire greeted absentmindedly. "You think you can come pick us up?" 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- 

There were hands and voices above her. Digging. Clawing. Trying to reach her. 

The sound of concrete being dragged reached her ears and suddenly, there was light. The sudden illumination sent a sharp pain through her skull, and the smell of dust and blood filled the air. 

"Ma'am, are you ok?" A familiar voice asked. It was one of _her_ men, not one of those stupid firemen. Thank god. There was a hand on her shoulder and suddenly the weight crashing her legs was lifted. She let out a scream of relief. "Can you hear me, ma'am?" 

She pulled the annoying man close with force by his shirt collar until they were face to face, leaning on the unstable wreckage of what used to be her house. She scowled at him, eyes shining with rage, and practically spat her next words at the man's face. 

" _Bring. Me. That. Telepath_ ". 

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are appreciated as always, so is constructive criticism! Don't forget to tell me if you want to see something on the fic. You can always find me on edema--ruh.tumblr.com!  
> I updated this on April 1st to try and make Grantaire's powers clearer.


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